Last May’s revelation that Ottawa’s Human Resources Department had a supercomputer with personal information on over 30 million Canadians proved scandalous, yet it was no aberration. The collection of information on Canadians is as common as the sight of red-coated secret police on our postcards.

Whose National Security addresses the historical ramificatons of this surveillance, and attempts to peel back the veils of secrecy that still shroud the RCMP and CSIS. Based on a collection of papers delivered at a 1996 conference on government surveillance of Canadian activists, the range of topics covered is immense, from spying on and harassment of lesbians and gays in the civil service to infiltration of ladies auxiliary clubs, which spent more time holding Tupperware parties than fomenting revolution.

However, this book is unlikely to attract the broad-based audience needed to demand such an accounting into security abuses. The book has an uneven tone, bouncing as it does from academic historical analysis to personal accounts. The most engaging pieces are by those who have dealt first-hand with Canada’s state security apparatus, including Madeleine Parent and Larry Hannant, two long-time activists. Other chapters, though interesting, are framed more for academics than the average reader who might wonder: am I on a list somewhere?

There’s a lot of good information here, and much food for thought. But the book’s largely academic tone is a pity given the need for a more accessible account of the watchers in our midst.